How to be a Better Hobbyist with the Bullet Journal

One of the coolest things about the bullet journal community is the striking diversity of its people. There are people from all walks of life using this awesome system to organize and improve their days. I imagine many of you who use the bullet journal are also very creative. I fall into this category. I have loads of creative energy, often with no specific structured outlet. Sometimes I will go months without touching a hobby of mine because I don’t feel I have the time, or I can’t really get my ideas into motion. The bullet journal helps me be a better hobbyist in three ways:

– I can budget my time in a way that lets me do fun things

– I can jot down my inspiration all in one centralized location

– I can break big goals into more manageable goals to make projects feel less intense

I’m going to show you how I used the bullet journal (learn details on how to start your own here) to tame my leather working hobby, which is a bit of a time and money eating beast. I needed a little bit of organization to keep me focused and mostly stress free through every step of a project.

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Use your bullet journal to draw inspiration! Literally, draw in your journal. I would flip back to old half used pages in my Ecosystem and doodle designs for key chains, journal covers, and journals themselves. Sometimes I would devote a full page to potential cover art for a new leather journal so I could really let loose and brainstorm.

I would also brainstorm possible projects to try in the future. This would usually come after I came into some new materials, such as after Christmas or an unexpected garage sale find. I would list out what I could do with that suede scrap or what awesome things I could make with the heavy weight leather roll. Sometimes they were within the realms of what I could actually do and some were pipe dreams. But it’s nice to set goals for yourself and remind yourself of what excites you in your hobby.

I would use my bujo to shop around for the best value of an item. A few months back, I made a hand bound journal for a friend’s wedding, so I went on a hunt for the best paper to use. Not too thick, nor too thin, nor too expensive. I compared several products online side by side before making a selection, which was the wonderful Canson sketchpad. I am able to reference back to my notes for how to cut the paper to get the best yield. It’s nice to have that on hand rather than squirreled away in a drawer.

The journal I completed for a friend’s wedding.

Using your bullet journal for your creative business makes sense. You can track everything you need to monitor expenses, sales, and time commitments. But using the bullet journal for your personal endeavors is still very rewarding. Being able to keep track of your materials and projects is extremely useful, and it’s always nice to be able to jot down a passing inspiration while you’re busy and then be able to find it later. So if you’ve been using your bullet journal to organize your chores and meals, well done. But consider giving yourself permission to use it for the fun stuff, too. You’ll be surprised how much more time you will find yourself thinking about and planning for your hobby!

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Comments

I’m a fiber artist (knitting, spinning, weaving and all kinds of historic needlecrafts). One of my monthly pages is a list of the progress that I’d like to make on long term projects and a list of the short term projects that I want to complete in the upcoming month.

I find that I skimp on the blocking/finishing/framing/documentation if I’m not careful. I seem to enjoy starting more than completing! Having those final steps written down means that I so focus on them enough to get things “finished finished” (as one of my favorite podcasters calls it).

I totally understand what you mean! I’m a serial starter and a historically poor finisher. But you’re right, having them written down is a great way to keep yourself accountable and reach the end of the project. Thanks for sharing!

Hi. Do you use just one journal/ notebook for everything, or do you have several, each with its own purpose. I’m having trouble working that out. I have a couple of ‘bought’ leather hand made notebooks. I used one when I went to Dubai and UAE for a holiday and wrote a diary with little drawings, but there are pages left over. I have a ‘list of things’ notebook. Is this usual. I’ve kept a diary throughout all my married life, a page to week one.( We’ve been married 48 years. ). Stuff I wouldn’t want anyone to read. I also keep a food diary when we go on holiday. When we come home we have ‘de-briefings, using the food diary. It’s a great source of reminiscing and solves arguments about where we were and when, but I digress. I like the idea of ‘bullet ‘ journals. My household diary looks like a mess beside the nice clean ones I’ve seen in these posts. Help, am I the only untidy one. Ps, I live in Scotland.

Hello to you in Scotland! That’s the only country I’ve ever visited outside of the USA, so it’s always a pleasure 🙂 I don’t use only one journal, though I’ve consolidated most of my random notebooks down to one using my bullet journal. I use my bullet journal for all of my planning and lists, which is immensely helpful, as I’m a serial list maker. I also have a Morning Pages journal, a nature journal, and a spiritual journal for prayers and the like. As a matter of fact, I got my leather-bound spiritual journal from a street vendor Edinburgh!

If I have any odd thing that needs to be written down, I almost always put it in my bullet journal. This makes it easy to find, unlike my old system where I tried to have a journal for everything and I never remembered which notebook I wrote it in! But don’t worry if your household diary is a bit scattered as long as it works for you! I like the idea of a travelling food diary to note what was eaten and where. I wish I had that for my big trips so I could look back on specific meals now! I might have to borrow that idea when I go on vacation next. Thank you for commenting and sharing your experiences. I wish you the best of luck in your journaling adventures!

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Hello there, I’m Shelby!

I’m a 25 year old who has always struggled with productivity. As long as I can remember, I’ve been frustrated by procrastination and my complete inability to get my life together. I set out on my quest and discovered... Read More…